


Tripped Heartbeat

by lunaseemoony



Category: Broadchurch, Secret Diary of a Call Girl (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Romance, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 15:46:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7690381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaseemoony/pseuds/lunaseemoony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bullet meant for Hardy seriously wounds his girlfriend Hannah. Panic hits him just as hard and makes him realize what's important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tripped Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> I'm uploading older fics from tumblr to complete collections 
> 
> Warning: serious injury and brief mentions of gunshots and blood in this

In a film a shot would ring out, bringing the busy London street to a halt as she fell in his arms. In an ideal world he would’ve had a warning. In an ideal world his notion of safety wouldn’t have shattered with the glass behind her as the bullet tore at her delicate flesh. In an ideal world he’d have caught the poor excuse for a human being before he could come after them. Alec Hardy didn’t live in an ideal world. 

He lived in a world where the nature of his work put him and anyone close to him at risk. He always knew this. He foolishly believed nobody would bother to try and hurt him. He wasn’t worth it. 

She wore a slim cream-colored cocktail dress. He could still feel her bare legs very intentionally brushing up against his as the candlelight graced her skin with a warm glow. He felt blessed just being in her presence, the luckiest man in London just receiving her vibrant smile. Not even the worst villain on the face of the Earth should ever want to stifle it. He was convinced. 

It had to have been meant for him then, he’d decided. They’d had enough sense to silence the pistol but their aim was poor. Hardy was on the end of Hannah’s arm as she practically skipped out of the restaurant, sucking in the chilled night air on a deep breath. She released that breath on a sickly groan just before getting knocked back to the window and falling lifeless to the cement. Bile rose in his throat as her sweet dress was spoiled with crimson and guilt immediately stained his heart before panic could settle in properly. 

Every fiber of his being then was focused on not fainting at the sight of her. Damn his heart, it _would_  work for him just the one time for the love of God, please. He prayed his already clumsy fingers could mash 999 quickly enough. Not that he was religious. He wasn’t. If there was a higher power they’d bloody well better be listening, for he wouldn’t be the least bit shy about cursing them if the only light in his life was cruelly stolen from him. 

Hannah was the stronger one. He wasn’t built for this, wasn’t made for pacing the halls outside her operating room (nor yelling at the nurses for making him move back and sit down). Didn’t even have a proper working heart, but he’d decided as they raced her unconscious body into A&E that he’d give it to her if it would help in the slightest. It was already hers, every uneven beat and every bit of warmth that she’d already coaxed from it with her sweet smile. She was the only woman he’d known that had ever been honest with him, rising above how that had scared her. 

Hardy was told by the doctor that it was all up to her, that they’d done the best they could. What did that even mean? People really said that? She’d never mince words with him like that, would never sugarcoat anything if she wasn’t certain. If he didn’t have a faulty heart it’s every last beat would be hers in exchange for one smile, he wept into her chest, beckoning to her stronger heart. He couldn’t even express to her in words how he needed it.

When she stirred quietly, squeezing the hand in hers, those words flew from his mouth. Repeatedly, until she hushed him and made him promise to stop apologizing. He swore she’d get well and that he’d work to feel as though he deserved her no matter how much she told him not to worry. He felt as though the sun rose just for her the next day. 


End file.
